A Corpus-Based Frequency List of Arabic Sight Words for Grades 4–6

Ahmad Oweini; Noura El-Far

A Corpus-Based Frequency List of Arabic Sight Words for Grades 4–6

Ahmad Oweini, Noura El-Far

Abstract

This study updates and extends the foundational work of Oweini and Hazoury (2010) by developing a new corpus-based list of Arabic sight words for grades 4-6 in Lebanese private schools. It addresses the lack of recent, systematic descriptions of high-frequency Arabic words and examines their role in reading fluency and comprehension. Fifteen commonly used Arabic reading textbooks were analyzed, and words were categorized by type and morphological structure. The findings confirm the dominance of functional words and reflect the influence of diglossia and Arabic orthographic complexity on sight word identification. Comparison with existing word lists and frequency dictionaries shows strong overlap but also highlights areas requiring revision. This updated frequency list offers educators and textbook designers linguistically grounded evidence for improving reading materials. The study also recommends expanding future research using digital corpus tools to support larger-scale frequency analyses.

Keywords

Arabic sight words; corpus linguistics; word frequency; diglossia; orthography; morphological structure; reading fluency

Full Text:

PDF

References

Abu-Rabia, S., & Darawshe, E. (2024). Evaluation of the multiple-deficit hypothesis among dyslexic Arabic-speaking children. Dyslexia, 30(2), e1759. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1759

Abu-Rabia, S., & Hijjazi, H. (2023). The role of vowelization in reading comprehension of different Arabic genres. Applied Psycholinguistics, 44(3), 567–587. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716423000123

Alabdulkader, B., Alshubaili, H., & Alhashmi, A. (2021). Challenges in reading Arabic among children with dyslexia. Optometry and Vision Science, 98(8), 929–935. https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000001744

Al Ghanem, R., & Sanders, E. A. (2023). The impact of a structured sight word intervention on Arabic reading fluency in early elementary students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 115(4), 621-638. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000789

Asadi, I. A., & Kawar, K. (2023). Learning to read in Arabic diglossia: The relation of spoken and Standard Arabic language in kindergarten to reading skills in first grade. Literacy Research and Instruction. https://doi.org/10.1080/19388071.2023.2217274

Asadi, I. A., Asli-Badarneh, A., & Vaknin-Nusbaum, V. (2024). The impact of morphological density on reading comprehension in Arabic: A comparison between typically developing children and children with reading disabilities. Dyslexia, 30(1), 17-61. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1761

Aswadi, D. (2024). Optimizing Language Learning with Relevant and Contextual Vocabulary Selection in Education. Journal on Education, 7(1), 8615–8625. https://doi.org/10.31004/joe.v7i1.7714

Baharun, S. (2025). Innovative Approaches to Teaching Arabic Vocabulary to Novice Learners. Lahjatuna., 4(2), 77–88. https://doi.org/10.38073/lahjatuna.v4i2.2535

Ballance, O. J., & Coxhead, A. (2024). Corpus Analysis of Vocabulary. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal20508

Buckwalter, T., & Parkinson, D. (2011). A frequency dictionary of Arabic: Core vocabulary for learners. Routledge.

Darwiche Fedda, O., & Oweini, A. (2012). The effect of diglossia on Arabic vocabulary development in Lebanese students. Educational Research and Reviews, 7(16), 351–361. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR11.022

Ehri, L. C. (2023). Roads travelled researching how children learn to read words. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 28(1), 55–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/19404158.2023.2208164

Franceschi, D. (2021). Lexical-Semantic Representations at the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic. International Journal of English Linguistics, 11(6), 120. https://doi.org/10.5539/IJEL.V11N6P120

Fry, E. (1980). The new instant word list. The Reading Teacher, 34(3), 284–289.

Galicia, A. B. (2022). An examination of teacher beliefs about the emphasis of sight word development in early literacy instruction.

Hassanein, E., Johnson, E., Ibrahim, S., & Alshaboul, Y. (2023). What predicts word reading in Arabic? Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1077643

Hassanein, K. M., Elbeheri, G., Almalki, M., & Alsadoon, E. A. (2023). What predicts word reading in Arabic? Journal of Literacy Research, 55(2), 123–141. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X231012345

Hutchison, L., Jerasa, S., Ahmmed, R., & Holcomb, E. (2024). Reexamining the Dolch Basic Sight Word List: Contemporary considerations for culturally sustaining approaches to assess sight word development. Literacy Research and Instruction, 1–23.

https://doi.org/10.1080/19388071.2024.2321209

Kim, Y.-S. G., Wagner, R. K., & Lopez, D. (2023). The role of word reading and listening comprehension in reading comprehension: A longitudinal study in a language-diverse context. Journal of Educational Psychology, 115(1), 85–100. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000720

Kozma, E., & Yaakoub, G. (2019). Latest strategies for reading and literacy for the Arab child. Dar Al-Nahda Al-Arabia.

Lazareva, M., & Terekhin, I. N. (2023). On the influence of the Internet on the contemporary English. Učënye Zapiski Sankt-Peterburgskogo Universiteta Tehnologij Upravleniâ i Èkonomiki, 4, 299–305. https://doi.org/10.35854/2541-8106-2022-4-299-305

Liu, L., Gong, T., Shi, J., & Guo, Y. (2024). A high-frequency sense list. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1430060

Ministère de l’éducation nationale, de l’enseignement supérieur et de la recherche. (2023). Liste de fréquence lexicale. EDUSCOL. Retrieved from https://eduscol.education.fr/186/liste-de-frequence-lexicale

Moser, J. (2020). Evaluating Arabic textbooks: A corpus-based lexical frequency study. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 567–588. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12321

Osama, M. A. (2023). Ways to enhance the position of the arabic language between originality and challenges an analytical. Journal of Language Studies, 6(2), 224–239. https://doi.org/10.25130/jls.6.3.2.18

Oweini, A., & Lotfi ElZein, H. (2022). Dyslexia in Lebanon. In G. Elbeheri & S. Lee (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Dyslexia in Education (pp. 199–208). Routledge.

Oweini, A., & Hazoury, K. (2010). Towards a list of sight word lists in Arabic. International Review of Education, 56(4), 457–478.

Oweini, A., Awada, G., & Kaissi, F. (2020). The impact of Arabic diglossia on oral language development. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 20(2).

Petscher, Y., Stanley, C., & Pentimonti, J. (2022). The science of reading movement: The role of assessment to inform instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 57(S1), S443–S457. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.438

Saiegh-Haddad, E., & Everatt, J. (2015). Early literacy education in Arabic. In N. Kucirkova, C. Snow, V. Grover, & C. McBride-Chang (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Early Literacy Education (pp. 185–198). Taylor & Francis.

Saiegh-Haddad, E., & Joshi, R. M. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of Arabic literacy: Insights and perspectives. Springer.

Saiegh-Haddad, E., & Schiff, R. (2016). The impact of diglossia on voweled and unvoweled word reading in Arabic: A developmental study from childhood to adolescence. Scientific Studies of Reading, 20(4), 311–326.

Saiegh-Haddad, E., & Spolsky, B. (2014). Acquiring literacy in a diglossic context: Problems and prospects. In E. Saiegh-Haddad & M. Joshi (Eds.), Handbook of Arabic literacy: Insights and perspectives (pp. 225–240). Springer.

Shendy, R. (2022). Learning to read in an “estranged” language: Arabic diglossia, child literacy, and the case for mother tongue-based education. Creative Education, 13(4), 1015–1029. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2022.134077

Ziegler, J. C., & Goswami, U. (2005). Reading Acquisition, Developmental Dyslexia, and Skilled Reading across Languages: A Psycholinguistic Grain Size Theory. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 3-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.3